Crow Indian parents seek justice for murdered son

SEATTLE -- A Native American family is in Seattle today, seeking justice in the murder of their son, Steven Bearcrane, murdered on Crow Indian land in 2005. The family said the FBI agent in the case did not adequately investigate the murder and treated the family "like we were wasting his time.""There is so much to this murder that it frustrates any one when they hear the details. The pain of losing our son is hard to deal with; but when there is absolutely no justice for our son or our family, we as a family suffer in our grief.Although the evidence shows murder the FBI did a very poor investigation and the US Attorney’s Office accepted it 'as is,'" the family said in a message to Censored News.

"We are now in Seattle for our hearing in the Ninth Circuit on Thursday, Aug 4, at 9 a.m. We had gotten a call late Monday from a woman who (we have never met) she said she heard about our case and is going to be at the court house with a banner and some others to meet us before we go in. WOW! this was very surprising! It is very comforting when others care," the family said.

Please see below the court documents and letter to the editor:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My name is Cletus Cole and I am an enrolled member or the Gros Ventre Tribe of Fort Belknap.I am married and have a home in the rural area of Billings, Montana. This home is located 11 miles out and within the boundaries of the Crow Reservation.

My wife Earline and I have 1 daughter and 4 sons, one of which we have lost one in the most tragic way imaginable.Earline and our children are all enrolled members of the Crow Tribe.

Steven, the son we lost, is the reason for this letter.Steven was at work when he was shot and killed on February 2, 2005, and the shooter is a non-Indian and was never charged with anything or never spent one night in jail.This happened down the road from our home where Steven was employed as a ranch hand.

There is so much to this murder that it frustrates any one when they hear the details. The pain of losing our son is hard to deal with; but when there is absolutely no justice for our son or our family, we as a family suffer in our grief.Although the evidence shows murder the FBI did a very poor investigation and the US Attorney’s Office accepted it “as is.”

The FBI agent assigned to the Crow Reservation at that time always treated Indian victims and their families with no worth or importance.The agent showed us no concern when meeting at the FBI office with us about Steven’s case.In fact, the agent acted like we were wasting his time.

We filed a civil case claiming racial discrimination against the FBI and the US Attorney’s office of South Dakota in the Federal District Court in Billings to try to get the court to order them to do their jobs in regard to Indian victims of crime.The FBI and DOJ and their employees claimed sovereign immunity.However, the court would not let the FBI agent claim sovereign immunity but everyone else was able to.In other words, sacrifice the lowest man on the totem pole.The FBI agent through the DOJ is now appealing in the 9th Circuit court and our court date for oral arguments is Aug. 4, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. in Seattle WA.

We as Indian people know firsthand what prejudice is and when the offices that should protect us and administer “JUSTICE FOR ALL” do not do this, then that leaves us as “Vulnerable Victims of All” people who want to commit crimes against Indians.Crime happens everywhere but, as you know, it is most rampant on reservations.

The MSU-Missoula journalism school picks an issue to investigate and sends teams out to investigate and write a magazine which is published every May and distributed in the Great Falls paper.Crime on reservations was the topic of 2009 there was a story from every Montana reservation.The story of Steven’s murder was the cover and center-page story and told of all the extremes measures we have done to pursue justice.Going to the 9th Circuit Court is another is another endeavor we are doing in the hopes of achieving justice.

Injustice is not only in Montana but we have found along the way that reservations in other states also experience this.This case will set precedence for all Indian people in the 9th circuit states over the treatment of Indian victims and we feel it is very important to have as much support as can be given.We are asking if any person or persons would come and attend the hearing and make their presence to be seen at this hearing.Your attendance will show the 9th Circuit Court Judges the seriousness of the injustice done to Indians and that injustice because of our race is wrong.

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Censored News is published by censored journalist Brenda Norrell. A journalist for 27 years, Brenda lived on the Navajo Nation for 18 years, writing for Navajo Times, AP, USA Today, Lakota Times and other American Indian publications. After being censored and then terminated by Indian Country Today in 2006, she began the Censored Blog to document the most censored issues. She currently serves as human rights editor for the U.N. OBSERVER & International Report at the Hague and contributor to Sri Lanka Guardian, Narco News and CounterPunch. She was cohost of the 5-month Longest Walk Talk Radio across America, with Earthcycles Producer Govinda Dalton in 2008: www.earthcycles.net/COPYRIGHTS All material is copyrighted by the author or photographer. Please contact each contributor for reprint permission. brendanorrell@gmail.comAudios may not be sold or used for commercial purposes.

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